Pakistan's Prime Minister Warns of a Military Coup

In one of the more disturbing things you'll hear from Pakistani leaders today, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has warned that a military coup is in the works. "I want to tell you clearly that conspiracies are under way to remove this elected government," said Gilani, in what Bloomberg Businessweek is reporting is his second warning of the kind in a week. Gilani's warning does echo "Memogate" and the fallout over the Osama bin Laden raid. The civilian government is blaming the military, while the military, as The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg writes, "is actively seeking to punish anyone who might have helped the U.S. find the world's most notorious terrorist." That anyone includes civilian government officials like the former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani who allegedly was trying to warn the U.S. of a coup. Journalist Omar Waraich at The Independent uncovered purported text messages from Mansoor Ijaz in which he said a Pakistani general had visited Arab countries trying to drum up support for a coup earlier this month, but the military is denying any plans for a coup (though one would think if you were planning a military coup, you wouldn't tell the world's newspapers).